A peaceful aura settles over the interior of O Chame, a Japanese-inspired restaurant in the heart of the Fourth Street bustle in Berkeley. The restaurant has an Asian country sensibility, with stucco walls, rustic chairs and a large communal table in the middle. Chef-owner David Vardy's menu may have a Japanese sensibility, but it also has gentle California twists. Over the last few years, he's increased his menu of noodle dishes to include such toppings as roasted oysters with wakame and daikon sprouts; or tofu skins with shiitake mushrooms and spinach. Flavors are subtle and refined.

Chef-owner Paul Bertolli, who worked for years at Chez Panisse, is an artisan who would make a purist proud. He makes his own pasta, cures his own meats, ages his sausage and even makes balsamic vinegar. His food is so true to the spirit of Italian cooking that many Italians might be able to learn a few tricks from him. However, those who go expecting fancy plates of food and lots of accompaniments may be disappointed. The hallmark here is simplicity. The interior, which features an open kitchen with a grill and rotisserie, has a relaxed demeanor with a loftlike look.

Chef Adrian Hoffman continues to refine his innovative take on American food at Bradley Ogden's One Market restaurant. The dishes always surprise: pig and black truffle ravioli; shaved foie gras salad with hazelnuts and brioche; baked sea bream in salt crust. The restaurant, while well-heeled and comfortable, has a somewhat corporate feel, with plate-glass windows that overlook Steuart.

Small, delicious plates of Italian seafood make this restaurant a relaxing draw. Chef Ruggero Gadaldi, who also owns Antica Trattoria, opened this spot a few years ago but recently changed the concept to a cicchetti bar. He features a small list of well-selected wines, most available by the glass, and 20 or so items on the regular menu. These fresh, satisfying combinations are served up in classic grill surroundings, highlighted with a 16-seat zinc bar and teak shelving. Rich mahogany paneling on the dining room walls and white and green hexagonal tile floors are details that belie the reasonable tab.

Gerald Hirigoyen, who also owns Fringale, is really cooking from the heart these days. To reflect his Basque heritage, he converted his other restaurant, Pastis, near Levi's Plaza to this new, exciting concept. The distinctive food is produced by chef Mattin Noblia. To support the change of direction, Hirigoyen has made the interior warmer and more rustic, with a communal table in the center, and bright Basque fabric runners on each table.

If you're hungry for mussels and that back-alley Paris atmosphere, then visit Plouf. The Financial District restaurant features mussels prepared in eight different ways; clams get six different treatments. Order a side of crisp, hot, salty fries and you'll swear you've found nirvana. However, the appetizer and entree side of the menu shouldn't be ignored; the selections are top quality, and David Spanner's preparations are always interesting. Plouf has a charming seafaring look, with tile floors, a tin ceiling and corner fireplace. On warm days and evenings, large windows open onto the alley, which is filled with rows of tables.

You'll be hearing a lot more about PlumpJack as Gavin Newsom, the owner, cranks up his campaign for mayor. This place has always catered to the Pacific Heights set, but now more and more politicos will be dropping by, and they'll be well fed by chef James Ormsby, who has a comforting and stylish way of cooking. The interior is casually elegant, with custom-designed chairs, wine racks and cushy banquettes. Even the buttons on the waiters vests, custom made, match the oval pattern of the chandeliers. In addition to the great food, the interesting wine list is one of the best priced in the city.

Owners Wendy Brucker and Roscoe Skipper have created one of the best neighborhood restaurants in the Bay Area, with satisfying food and first-rate service. The low-slung dining room has an upscale ranch house atmosphere, with modern appointments and a garden in back that makes the dining room feel spacious. The menu changes every three weeks, but you'll always find several extraordinary braised and grilled dishes, and the signature mushroom fritters.

Roxanne's is probably the most unusual and distinctive restaurant in the United States. Owner Roxanne Klein heats nothing above 118 degrees, the temperature at which many people believe the natural enzymes in food begin to degenerate. She also avoids grains, cheeses and meat products. With a limited palette that would stymie many chefs, she's able to turn out food that sparkles. Her rice is made from pulsed parsnips, while Thai noodles are made from the meat of young coconut. It's an amazing experience, enhanced with an excellent wine list. The refined interior features all environmentally friendly products with exposed bricks and limestone floors. Chairs are draped with fabric and buttoned at the back, and the white tablecloths are made from organic unbleached cotton.

Few restaurants are better known for their sommelier than their chef, but Larry Stone has made Rubicon a wine-lovers' mecca. Of course, the wine wouldn't be shown off nearly as well without the talents of chef Dennis Leary, and the handsome interior. The brick walls and sculptural earthquake support beams play against refined wood booths and Dale Chihuly glass sculptures. It feels like a big-city restaurant, and has celebrity cachet: It's owned by New York restaurateur Drew Nieporent, Robert De Niro and several other celebrities. Leary offers the traditional a la carte and fixed-price menus, including a vegetarian option.

A restaurant that has survived 136 years must be doing something right. While Sam's Grill went through a lot of changes in the first half of its life, it's been in the same family since 1937 and at its current location since 1946. The interior retains the look of an old-fashioned men's grill. At the back of the restaurant is a double row of booths with curtains for privacy. It's where hundreds of business deals have been struck and many more personal affairs have been nurtured, without the eye of the prying public. The menu offers classic fare. Chicken is roasted to order (it takes 45 minutes) and costs only $9.50. One bite and you know classic doesn't mean tired.

When Slanted Door decided to remodel its Mission District restaurant, the base of operation was moved temporarily to the Embarcadero, in a space that used to house Embarko and LiveFire. With a full bar, a handsome brasserie-style interior and an impressive open kitchen, Charles Phan has been able to turn even more people on to cutting-edge Vietnamese food. In addition, there's an innovative wine list, and an interesting dessert menu that might include strawberry turnovers, Meyer lemon cake accented with lavender, and blood orange cheesecake.

Swan is a combination seafood purveyor and restaurant with a counter that seats only 18. Yet even with the limited number of seats, it has become a cult classic and gained a national reputation. The business opened in 1912, was bought by Sal Sancimino in 1946 and is now run by his six sons. From behind the counter, they crack a lot of crab -- and quite a few jokes -- for adoring customers.

Takara looks like a lot of other restaurants that line the Miyako Mall in Japantown. However, a live tank at the door and glimpse at the sushi bar give you a clue that there's more to this place. The food crafted by Yuki Murayama is exceptional. The restaurant specializes in rice dishes not found anywhere else, often topped with seasonal ingredients. It also does a fine job with sashimi, sushi and tempura. Most items come with an appetizer, soup, a delicious savory custard, pickles and dessert.

Anne Le and Tammy Huyhn learned the trade at their family restaurant Vung Tau in San Jose and Milpitas, and built on that knowledge to open Tamarine. Their new wave Vietnamese food, masterminded by Huynh, is fresh and exciting, much like the sophisticated decor. Woven vinyl mats cover the floor; upholstered chairs and white parchment-shaded chandeliers are set off by taupe-colored walls. Fine Southeast Asian art and frosted glass emblazoned with images of bamboo behind the slate-topped bar add to the dramatic look.

Located in a romantic stone building that feels like a Tuscan Villa, Terra is one of the nicest places to be when you want a special evening in the Wine Country. Hiro Sone cooks mostly European specialties, but there's a few Asian twists along the way in both combinations and presentations. He met his wife, Lissa, who handles the front of the house, while she was working as a pastry chef at Spago, which may be the reason the desserts are so good here.

Since 1986, Pathama Parikanont has been turning out some of the best Thai food in the Bay Area. She learned to cook from her mother, and those memories have become the basis of her cooking. Housed in a Victorian, the place still feels like a turn-of-the-century parlor with Thai art the owner has collected through the years. Both the food and the service have a friendly neighborhood atmosphere.

Sylvie Le Mer was a pioneer in revitalizing a not-too-glamorous part of the Mission with her country French restaurant specializing in Breton crepes. It became so popular that it has expanded twice during the last decade, adding raw seafood bar specialties, more salads and ice cream desserts. But the savory and sweet crepes are still the star. The interior looks straight out of a French country village, and one of the best seats is at the counter, where diners can see the staff making the oversized crepes on a special hot plate.

One of the pleasures of a weekend morning in San Francisco is dropping into this Richmond District restaurant for Chinese dumplings. Of course, others have the same idea, and at peak times there's always a wait. The restaurant opened in 1977 and has become so popular that it takes at least nine chefs to turn out enough dumplings to feed the hordes that squeeze into the large room. At night, the restaurant offers a full menu with some Hakka-inspired specialties, though you can still get dim sum, which traditionally is served only during the day.

Mark Sullivan almost single-handedly has put Woodside on the culinary map. The Woodside Pub, which had been around for years, closed in 2001 and reopened in a new, chic downstairs location. Sullivan, formerly of PlumpJack, has created an American-inspired dinner menu that fits the space like a glove. Camel-hair drapes, claret-colored mohair chairs and a dark wood boxed-beam ceiling, create an understated, luxurious atmosphere. A fireplace along one wall is open to the kitchen and doubles as a grill station.

Although the Rincon Center restaurant is fairly new, Yank Sing has been a family business since 1958. Instead of being content to turn out wonderful traditional dim sum, owner Henry Chan has broke out of the mold, offering some innovative small plates. Each month the chef introduces new combinations, called the "creative collection," that can include chicken curry in an avocado half with Parmesan cheese, or lamb dumplings flavored with mint. On any given day, diners can find 80 different items, including minced chicken in lettuce cups or Peking duck by the slice. While the space is large, as at most dim sum parlors, the atmosphere is more elegant.

For 10 years, owners Mark Drazek and Barbara Mulas struggled with a bad location in San Francisco, and last year they packed up and reopened in Berkeley. The space is twice as large but the food is similar, though simplified, and the crowds are eating it up. The couple took over the handsome space that once housed Mazzini and made only a few cosmetic changes to the two dining rooms separated by cherry wainscotting and Carrera marble. One room is defined by a sleek built-in bookcase filled with art glass, the other by a barrel ceiling and an impressive arrangement of fresh flowers.

This modest spot helps to legitimatize the fantasy of a mythical roadhouse eatery where the service is friendly and the food is great. Duskie Estes and John Stewart took over the floundering Willowside Cafe, which had fallen on hard times, and again made it a Wine Country destination. Stewart offers a clever take on traditional items: broccoli soup with housemade cheddar cheese crackers or beef cheeks stroganoff style with chestnut noodles. The interior has an old-fashioned appeal with low wood ceilings, loads of framed mirrors on the wall and copper-top tables. A bar dominates the front of the restaurant, making it a good place to go if you're dining solo.

Judy Rodgers, the chef-owner of Zuni, is on a roll. Not only was she named best chef in California by the James Beard Foundation two years ago, but her new cookbook is a deserved best-seller. Her restaurant remains at the top if its game, too. After 24 years, Zuni is still the place that best defines San Francisco dining. The food is both rustic and refined, the interior has an atmosphere can't be mass produced, and the people watching is top-notch.

Charles Weber has brought locals and tourists to downtown Napa with his fun take on tapas. The cozy interior offers a mix of modern and Old World influences. The high ceilings are covered in rusted Mexican tiles crossed with wormwood beams. A recycled pine bar is notched into the corner back by the kitchen, where the pass-through is set with a wooden bowl brimming with olives. Moorish-looking lights, colonial tiles and impressionistic landscapes give it an artistic look.